Interrupted Journey

Chapter 3 - Farming

In spite of the celebratory atmosphere, we still had to get on. That day, I was working in the expanded vegetable plot with Ashley and Margret.

Gary had ploughed the ground again and more rocks had been brought to the surface that needed to be removed.

To help conserve our food stocks, we had decided to move to two meals per day and it was shortly after our non-existent lunchtime when Ashley eased herself upright. You know what," she said, "I'm starving."

"No, Ashley, you're not starving,' her mother said sharply. "You might be hungry but you're certainly not starving. There are plenty of people out there who are starving and the reason we're working so hard is to make sure we don't join them

"I'm sorry, Mum, I know that really. It's just something you say..."

"I know that, love," she said, as she stood upright for a moment, "and I'm sorry I snapped at you. "It's just my back is hurting. I'm not used to this sort of work. As my grandad used to say... 'manual labour's not a Spaniard'!"

Ashley came across and started rubbing her mother's lower back. Margret stood up straight, relishing the massage.

I straightened my own back for a moment, too, looking down to where Alice was working the dogs with David. She'd tried out with a couple of the kids but he seemed to have the most natural aptitude.

"Your body will get used to the two meals a day thing," I assured them as Ashley continued to massage her mother's back. "And at this time of year, we have to keep going as long as there's daylight."

"Oh, that was good, love," Margaret said when Ashley had finished. She stretched out her back with an audible click. "I'm almost looking forward to the next job."

"What's that?" Ashley asked, the trepidation audible in her voice.

"Collecting buckets of sheep dung. We need to dig it into the soil to enrich it."

"Eww"

"At least we'll be able to stand up straight for that job."

"I'll trade you! I'll keep on with the rocks if you want to make a start on the poo picking!"

"That, my girl," she said, turning round and giving her daughter a hug, "is a deal. You sure you're OK here?"

Ashley nodded.

"It gets worse," I warned them. "Mr Drummond said that he's got a pile of well rotted cow manure that he can let us have. We have to run that up here in wheelbarrows."

"But I'm much too weak and feeble for that!" Ashley said, fluttering her eyelashes and pretending to be on the point of tears.

I laughed. "We'll probably get some of the lads to run it up the hill," I told her. "We'll just have the pleasure of digging it in!"

With a sigh, Ashley returned to her rock collection duties while Margret went off to collect a bucket and spade.

"How are you doing?" I asked walking over to where Susan, Emily and Lizzy were busy picking up some of the smaller stones in another corner of the field.

"Surviving," Susan said, standing up and stretching. I started to give her back a rub and she rubbed back into me slightly suggestively.

"Behave yourself," I warned her, "or we might need to go and find some privacy!"

I managed to get my mind back on work and went to empty the girls' buckets on the growing mound before returning to my own rock-picking duties.

+++